DO WE LOOK GAY?

Blake Lewis and Chris Richardson from American Idol. Don't they look a little too cozy?

It was said last week, Chris was spotted with actress Lauren Conrod, at a trendy LA club. Maybe it's just wishful thinking these two are cuddling are behind the scenes! The photo
is being called a fake however. Below is the original GETTY IMAGE.

                                         
 
How open is AMERICAN IDOL to gays?

While a report last year suggested that openly gay people may not be welcome on
American Idol, a FOX spokesman, Joe Earley, tells The Advocate, “I’ve been intimate in
this process, and there is no fear coming from producers or the network about a
contestant’s sexuality as it relates to being gay.”

RJ Helton, who was also on the first season of the show and came out late last year,
says that this season, “There are more queens on that show that I have ever seen before.
I don’t think people are trying to hide their femininity. But I definitely think there is an unspoken thing to try and keep it under wraps for ratings.”

Jim Verraros told TMZ last year that “if I had come out [as gay] while I was on the show,
FOX would’ve edited it out.” But now he says, “I was more concerned about how America would perceive me than the producers were. Even on tour I definitely toned it down,
making sure my voice dropped an octave. Now I don’t give a fuck. But at the time I
thought, You have to appeal to everybody and be as mainstream as possible.”

The magazine also reports that “several of the top 24 contestants that season [4] were
gay,” according to Jacob Miller, who had his own reality series on Logo with his twin
brother, “coproduced the album” that came out of American Idol 4,
American Idol Season 4: The Showstoppers. He says, “It was always cool.
I don’t think they are discouraged from being out.”

One of the contestants from that season, but one who did not appear on the album, is
Mario Vazquez, who was accused of sexual harassment by a PA earlier this year; The Advocate says he “is now at the center of one of the bigger scandals in the show’s
history.”

Meanwhile, an American Idol 2 contestant who made it to Hollywood—and is now
 a publicist—is blogging about the show, and identifies certain contestants as gay,
including Clay Aiken, who earlier this year ambiguously refused to discuss his sexual orientation.

Of Clay, RJ Helton tells The Advocate, “It really makes me feel sad that he feels that he
can’t be himself. Maybe he’s just not comfortable with his own skin yet. I think he’s got
so much clout that he could do a lot for other gay artists.”

Jim Verraros says, “We don’t know who in his camp might be saying, ‘We will drop you
so fast your head will spin.’ He has more to lose. I think it’s sad, because I don’t know
how much more obvious you can get.”

READ MORE GAY IDOL DIRT AT THE ADVOCATE!